# Principal root of the third root of 8

I feel like I am right on this question but I keep getting it wrong. I have tried inputting 2 and $2+0i$. Am I missing something?

Thank you.

• Hm... I honestly don't know what you did wrong, unless my understanding of principal $n$th roots is wrong (that is, $k=0$) – Simply Beautiful Art Jan 21 '17 at 2:11
• That was my understanding as well. Thank you. I will contact my professor. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't me first :) – MathIsHard Jan 21 '17 at 2:13
• Given the syntax of the question, could it be looking for an answer in the form 2 + i 0? – dxiv Jan 21 '17 at 2:17
• Out of curiosity, have you tried the other roots (namely, $-1 \pm i \sqrt{3}$)? – emma Jan 21 '17 at 2:20
• How did you get it marked wrong? I mean who/what was the grader? A human being? I'm guessing they wanted it in $2 (\cos 0 + i \sin 0)$ format. But... that doesn't make you wrong. Or maybe they think the principal is not k=0 but k=1 so answer is $2 (\cos 2\pi/3 + Ii \sin 2\pi 3)$ but if that is what they think, they are in the minority. – fleablood Jan 21 '17 at 3:48

Thank you everyone for the ideas and help. The program wanted it like this... $2, -1+i\sqrt{3}, -1-i\sqrt{3}$. I feel like the instructions should be improved personally.